•  34
    Aristotle on Definition (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 29 (2): 427-431. 2009.
  •  30
    The Problem of Title of the «Posterior Analytics», and Thoughts from Commentators
    Documenti E Studi Sulla Tradizione Filosofica Medievale 20 127-147. 2009.
    The Prior and Posterior Analytics were entitled Ta Analutika by Aristotle himself. But it is not at all clear what Aristotle had in mind in grouping these two works together and in giving them this common title. This question was discussed at length by the ancient Greek commentators on Aristotle. Two main possibilities emerged. The first is that taken by Alexander of Aphrodisias, Ammonius, and Philoponus in his commentary on APr. According to this line of thought, Aristotle has in mind the ana…Read more
  •  8
    Within The Guide of the Perplexed Maimonides presents an argument that is intended to render probable the temporal creation of the cosmos. In one of these arguments Maimonides adopts the Kalamic strategy of arguing for the necessity of there being a “particularizing” agent. Maimonides argues that even one who grants Aristotelian science can still ask why the heavenly realm is as it is, to which there is no reply forthcoming but “God so willed it.” The argument is effective against the Arabic Neo…Read more
  •  25
    Forms in Plato's Philebus (review)
    Review of Metaphysics 44 (3): 617-618. 1991.
    This book is an attempt to meet the arguments of scholars who have denied that within the Philebus, generally recognized as a late dialogue, the theory of Forms of the middle dialogues is advocated or plays an important role. Accordingly, instead of a commentary on the argument of the Philebus as a whole, Benitez presents a painstaking analysis of those passages that promise to shed light on Plato's metaphysical and epistemological views at the time of the writing of the Philebus. The result is …Read more
  •  50
    Aristotle as Teacher: His Introduction to a Philosophical Science by Christopher Bruell
    Journal of the History of Philosophy 54 (1): 154-155. 2016.
    This commentary on Aristotle’s Metaphysics is in a style familiar from the writings of Leo Strauss and his students. The reader is presented with a paraphrase of the whole of Aristotle’s text, marked by seemingly odd omissions, emphases, and offhand remarks. One soon sees that the book is written in code. Only as the book progresses is the author more explicit concerning what he takes to be the main lines of Aristotle’s esoteric teaching, which is as follows.Aristotle writes the Metaphysics for …Read more
  •  12
    The Chain of Change (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 13 (1): 189-196. 1993.
  •  38
    Aristotle described the scientific explanation of universal or general facts as deducing them through scientific demonstrations, that is, through syllogisms that met requirements he first formulated of logical validity and explanatoriness. In Chapters 19-23, he adds arguments for the further logical restrictions that scientific demonstrations can neither be indefinitely long nor infinitely extendible through the interposition of new middle terms. Chapters 24-26 argue for the superiority of unive…Read more
  •  7
    Inference from Signs (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 23 (2): 452-459. 2003.
  •  22
    Colloquium 3: Cosmic Orientation in Aristotle’s De Caelo
    Proceedings of the Boston Area Colloquium of Ancient Philosophy 26 (1): 91-129
    This paper examines how within De Caelo Aristotle argues that the heavens rotate to the right, because this is best. I isolate and evaluate its presuppositions and show how it comprises both a dialectical argument to cosmological principles and a partial demonstrative explanation on the basis of such principles. Second, I consider the expressions of epistemological hesitation that Aristotle offers in regard to this arguments, and draw conclusions concerning the status of cosmology as an Aristote…Read more
  •  16
    Aristotle on Homonymy (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 30 (1): 183-186. 2010.
  •  38
    At Metaphysics A 5 986a22-b2, Aristotle refers to a Pythagorean table, with two columns of paired opposites. I argue that 1) although Burkert and Zhmud have argued otherwise, there is sufficient textual evidence to indicate that the table, or one much like it, is indeed of Pythagorean origin; 2) research in structural anthropology indicates that the tables are a formalization of arrays of “symbolic classification” which express a pre-scientific world view with social and ethical implications, ac…Read more
  •  10
    Principles and Proofs (review)
    International Studies in Philosophy 29 (2): 137-138. 1997.
  •  15
    Human Life and the Natural World: Readings in the History of Western Philosophy (edited book)
    with Patricia Kilroe
    Broadview Press. 1997.
    Human concern over the urgency of current environmental issues increasingly entails wide-ranging discussions of how we may rethink the relationship between humans and the rest of the natural world. In order to provide a context for such discussions this anthology provides a selection of some of the most important, interesting and influential readings on the subject from classical times through to the late nineteenth century. Included are such figures as Xenophon, Plato, Aristotle, Hildegard of B…Read more
  •  16
    To Tell the Truth: Dissoi Logoi 4 & Aristotle's Response
    In Alexander P. D. Mourelatos, Victor Miles Caston & Daniel W. Graham (eds.), Presocratic philosophy: essays in honour of Alexander Mourelatos, Ashgate. pp. 232-49. 2002.
  •  84
    Atoms, complexes, and demonstration: Posterior analytics 96b15-25
    Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part A 35 (4): 707-727. 2004.
    There is agreement neither concerning the point that is being made in Posterior analytics 96b15–25 nor the issue Aristotle intends to address. There are two major lines of interpretation of this passage. According to one, sketched by Themistius and developed by Philoponus and Eustratius, Aristotle is primarily concerned with determining the definitions of the infimae species that fall under a certain genus. They understand Aristotle as arguing that this requires collating definitional prediction…Read more
  •  23
    Truth, etc (review)
    Ancient Philosophy 29 (2): 432-437. 2009.
  •  56